A Milwaukee man and former police officer will spend the next several years in prison after being convicted of abusing his baby.
Martinese McDaniel, 32, was sentenced this week to six years in prison and five years of supervised release. In July, a jury convicted him of two felony counts of child abuse – recklessly causing great harm.
According to the criminal complaint, McDaniel awoke around 6:30 a.m. on January 14, 2023, and spoke with his girlfriend, who agreed to take their son to a wrestling event. The girlfriend left the house after about 15 minutes, leaving McDaniel alone with their twin daughters.
The man fed both of the children and then “used a bicycle technique on each of the twins to pump their legs in an effort to alleviate gas,” according to the complaint. Then he put the twins in their cribs, but one of them “became fussy,” according to the complaint.
“The defendant picked [the victim] up and took [her] into the living room where the defendant repeated the bicycle technique to alleviate gas in [her] abdomen,” according to the charge. However, when McDaniel repeated the technique, the baby “took a sharp gasp of air” and then “stopped breathing.”
McDaniel expressed concern that his baby was choking, so he picked her up, placed her chest down in his left hand, and “patted” her upper back with two fingers “in an attempt to clear any blockage.” ” She was still not breathing, and additional CPR efforts were ineffective. She remained unresponsive even after McDaniel brought her close to his face, “tapping each side of [her] face.”
According to the court document, the father began to “panic,” and “shook” his daughter three to four times. However, his daughter did not respond. As he set her down, his girlfriend returned home. She later told police that she heard McDaniel yell, “Call 911, she’s not breathing!”.
She did so while McDaniel gave the child chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, according to police. While doing so, “gas expelled” from the child’s body, and her “abdomen became distended,” according to the complaint. He “used his fingers on [the victim’s] abdomen to relieve the gas.”
Shortly before the Milwaukee Fire Department arrived, McDaniel announced that the child was breathing again. However, “bloody sputum” emerged from her mouth. First responders took over her care and transported her to Children’s Wisconsin Hospital in Milwaukee.
Detectives arrived at the hospital later that day to investigate what had happened. Both McDaniel and his girlfriend stated that their daughter “was in good health” before being left in McDaniel’s care that morning, and that no one else had handled her. The girlfriend also claimed there were no accidents or falls where her daughter was dropped.
However, the baby sustained severe injuries.
A child abuse pediatrician “noted a significant increase in [the victim’s] head circumference, from under 3% during the last primary care visit to well over 85% upon admission on January 14, 2023,” according to the complaint. The child also had bruises on her chest, abdomen, and left leg.
The victim was diagnosed with “a brain injury with an acute change in consciousness,” among other things, and the doctor determined that the baby was “the victim of child physical abuse and abusive head trauma.”
The pediatrician stated about the child’s future: “At this time, it is impossible to predict what this child’s long-term prognosis will be. Imaging studies and clinical appearance both show that she has suffered a brain injury. Children who have sustained this type of injury may experience significant long-term morbidity, such as seizure disorders, spasticity, and major developmental delays.”
As detectives continued their investigation, they discovered McDaniel had security cameras on the outside of his home, and he is said to have provided the 12-hour time frame that investigators needed to see. However, one hour was missing: 7 to 8 a.m. on January 14, 2023.
In addition to his prison sentence and extended supervision, McDaniel was required to complete an anger management course, attend parenting classes, and participate in any necessary treatment or counseling, according to local Fox affiliate WITI.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, McDaniel had worked for the Milwaukee Police Department for seven years before being charged. He was placed on paid suspension. He was fired after his conviction.
